CU Boulder's 2024 Student Body President Election:
Everything You Need To Know
Election season is in full swing at CU Boulder.
With voting taking place this week, candidates and tickets vying for the top student leadership positions are in the final stretch of the campaign season — hoping to receive the torch from outgoing CU Student Government officials in May.
The University of Colorado Boulder’s Student Government officially defines itself as “… CUSG for short, is the official governing body of the nearly 36,000 students at CU Boulder. As the most autonomous student government in the nation, CUSG is responsible for allocating $34 million in student fees to improve the lives of all CU students. The primary objective of CUSG is to serve students wherever possible.”
Mirroring the structure of the United States’ federal government, the entity consists of 3 branches:
- The Executive branch, consisting of three student body president positions that share in the Executive branch’s powers and duties. The Executive branch is elected by ticket instead of individual candidates, and are elected each spring semester to one year terms — known as Tri-Executives.
- The Legislative branch comprises the Representative Council and the Council of Colleges and Schools (CCS). The Representative Council is composed of nine at-large members who serve one-year terms — with five representatives elected in the fall and four representatives elected in the spring. The Legislative Council’s primary duty besides proposing legislation is to approve the final CUSG budget, a task that has become increasingly laborious and complicated in recent semesters.
- The third institution of CUSG, the Judicial branch, is tasked with overseeing court cases within CUSG and infraction tribunals after each election season. The Judicial branch is made up of the seven justices seated on the CUSG Appellate Court, led by the Chief Justice.
In the 2024 race, there are three tickets competing for tri-executive: GOLD, Ignite and EXEL.
The Candidates:
GOLD: The GOLD ticket is composed of Connor Chancey, a junior majoring in environmental design and geography; McKenna Schutze, a junior studying business analytics and information management; and Nicholas Brand, a junior studying physical geography. Their campaign is focused on three pillars — sustainability, expansion, and access, according to the campaign’s Instagram (@cu4gold) and website.
Ignite: The Ignite ticket is composed of Ash Ganzoury, a third-year PhD student; Aaditya Pore, a junior majoring in aerospace engineering and computer science, with minors in political science and leadership studies; and Bianca Rubini-Tapernoux, a junior majoring in marketing with minors in political science and international affairs. Ther campaign is focused on sustainability, advocacy and progress according to their Instagram (@ignite_cu2024).
EXEL: The EXEL ticket is composed of Alex Radz, a sophomore majoring in business administration with an emphasis in finance and personal responsibility and sustainability; Grace Covney, a sophomore majoring in media studies and marketing; and Tyler Rowan, a sophomore studying international affairs. The campaign’s first mission is campus safety, according to their Instagram (@cusg_exel). EXEL has also highlighted student wellness and community connection on their campaign’s website.
On March 20, the tickets came together to participate in a debate moderated by student journalists from The Bold. During the debate, The Bold asked candidates questions concerning their plans for their prospective terms, as well as questions regarding the most pertinent concerns on CU Boulder students’ minds as the Fall 2024 semester approaches.
Candidate Debate – Q&A
In your ticket’s opinion, what is the most prominent problem or reason for concern that CU students are facing right now?
EXEL:
EXEL’s response focused on student wellness, emphasizing student access to health resources on campus.
“We think the biggest question that needs to be addressed is student wellness on campus,” said EXEL’s Alex Radz, “We don’t believe there’s enough access to mental health resources right now. We would like to increase mental health resources and more specifically implement them in the dorms… we need to increase drug awareness and drug safety and how to best protect students and their mental health.” Radz currently serves as a fellow for the Center for Education on Social Responsibility at the Leeds School of Business, according to his LinkedIn profile.
GOLD:
GOLD’s Connor Chancey emphasized the ticket’s focus on accessibility, citing a lack of transparency between the student government and the student body.
“I personally believe that our school does a really great job of reporting and letting students know what we’re spending our money on… but it’s kind of hard to understand,” he continued, “We want to make sure students understand what they’re paying for, what CUSG does and what they have access to.” Chancey, a transfer student, has served as the Health and Safety Chair of the CU Student Government since Nov. 2023, and has also held roles in Student Ambassadors and the Interfraternity Council at CU Boulder.
Ignite:
Ignite stated their focus on improving student success and satisfaction, as well as their readiness for building careers post-graduation.
“Many students feel like they’re not adequately supported by their own institution. There’s a lot of anxiety for life after college, and making sure your institution and your school, your peers and your faculty advisors can help you be prepared for the future is something that we do want to address,” said Bianca Rubini-Tapernoux. Tapernoux, a third-year undergrad in the Leeds School of Business, has been involved with CU Boulder’s Conference on World Affairs since Sept. 2022.
Experience in CUSG is no doubt a marketable skill for Tri-Executive campaigns. However, experience is not a full substitute for leadership, communication, and relationship skills.
What is a unique skill that you or your ticket brings to the role, beyond having prior experience?
EXEL:
“The most important thing that we bring to the table is that we would just give the student body a voice,” EXEL’s Tyler Rowan asserted.
“All three of us are from Colorado, so not only are we connected with the student body itself, but we have connections outside of the school. We can increase connections not just with the CU Boulder community, but with the Boulder community itself,” said Rowan.
GOLD:
GOLD’s response honed in on the campaign’s passion for being involved with the student population.
“I think what we bring is relationships we’ve already built, and also just our ability to just sit there and listen and just hear,” said GOLD’s Nicholas Brand. “We just love getting to know new people. … I’m here to learn and meet people and really get to know legislators and build up a cabinet.”
Brand continued by reflecting on his relationship with various administrators, stating the importance of forging relationships with students and administration to successfully forward legislation within CUSG.
Ignite:
“The biggest thing that Ignite brings to the table is representation. On this ticket we want to make sure we access communities of students that haven’t really been accessed by CUSG in the past, number one is graduate representation,” said Ignite’s Aaditya Pore. Prior to seeking the office of Tri-Executive, Pore successfully ran for an open Representative-at-Large seat in 2021 and has since served as Legislative Council President and Legislative Whip during the 97th CUSG Session (Fall 2022).
Being the only ticket with both undergraduate and graduate members in this election, Ignite focused on diversity and representation of undergraduate students, as well as those pursuing graduate and PhD degrees.
“One big thing that a lot of people aren’t in CUSG don’t know about is that there is this huge feud between CUSG and GPSG (Graduate and Professional Student Government). The reason why is becasue historically, undergrads have failed to adeuqatly represent the needs of graduates tudents through and through when it comes to CUSG. And so we do this in combination and tackle it.”
A sentiment often heard from students is that they didn’t know their student fees are funding a certain resource, or that they are unfamiliar with the reach and effects of CUSG on student life. In our experience, we haven’t found that the student body at large is disinterested in CUSG or the campus’ governance. Instead, we find that students are frustrated with the visibility and transparency of the institution (CUSG) and their representation.
So, what does transparency mean to your ticket, and what’s one tangible way you’d increase transparency in CUSG?
EXEL:
EXEL’s Grace Covney emphasized her campaign’s prioritization of community building, stating “I think that connection is a big part of this, with transparency.”
“I think it is important to do things like tabling, but with our community and our connections we have socially, being able to go up to people and say ‘Hey, we’re on student government Tri-Exec, we would like to do this. How do you feel about it?’ and getting more opinions, because that is truly the voice of students that matters,” Covney said. The media studies sophomore is an intern with the Denver Broncos and was crowned Miss Colorado Teen USA in July 2023. Though a newcomer to CUSG, Covney presents a unique choice for student voters who may be seeking to elect a leader with no prior involvement in CUSG proper.
GOLD:
GOLD’s McKenna Schutze responded with her campaign’s central commitment to access, suggesting that CUSG should have a Canvas page where incoming students can go to find answers to their questions as well as avenues to engage with upcoming events.
“All of this stuff is happening at CU already, and there’s no place to find it,” said Chancey. He referenced recently finding out about the snow removal hotline availble for CU students to notify Facilities Management of areas needing to be cleared, and suggested that resources like this be put into one place for students to see, like a Buff Portal tile.
Ignite:
Pore responded to the concerns around the transparency of the insittuion he once led – and hopes to again – by pointing to issues within CUSG’s structure.
“The reality is that our current infrastructure doesn’t incentivize folks stepping outside of that room and connecting with people that make up the community they represent,” said Pore. “So we need to change that, right?
“Making tabling for CSG a more commonplace thing throughout the semester, not just for elections, but just throughout the semester so that students have an opportunity to speak with their representatives and to be represented properly. We’re hoping to provide that by going to WillVill more often, speaking to freshmen and everybody in their group as well, about how their student experience could be benefited by us at CUSG,” he asserted.
With 3 tickets in this election, there is an interesting opportunity for students to truly vote on which ticket they think will most effectively lead the university. Past CUSG elections have gone uncontested, and it can discourage participation in student government when only one choice appears on the ballot. So, students have the advantage of comparing your campaign’s specific approaches to the other tickets.
Can you explain why your approach on a specific topic is more feasible and beneficial than your opponents’?
EXEL:
Referring to how little support club sports get from the university and how much they have to pay to remain functioning in turn, EXEL spoke on their ticket’s approach to student representation and the allocation or distribution of funding.
“We think something that directly affects all students is more representation and more funding towards on-campus groups, specifically clubs and club sports,” said Rowan.
GOLD:
GOLD spoke to their ticket’s range of experiences and roles throughout their college experiences, telling voters that their administration, if elected, woild represent all voters, not just specfic populations.
“We just have a plethora of different involvements on campus that understands different needs and different wants of students. We want to make sure that our ticket is not advocating for one specific body, it’s advocating for the student body,” said Chancey. “We want to make sure that our ticket isn’t allocating funds to one organization more than the other. It’s allocated to all organizations that deserve it and need it.”
Ignite:
“We truly know what we’re talking about and we know what we bring to the table. The reason why is because all of us have experience with making change on campus,” said Pore.
Pore continued by referencing his previous action of expanding the amount of reading days through CUSG, as well as safety initiatives such as making Narcan, an opioid overdose reversal treatment, available in dorms on campus, which has been unsuccessful due to liability issues.
The former Legislative Council President continued, stating “We have experience on campus with leadership and with many organizations … what we can and can’t do is very clearly in front of our eyes, and that’s what we’ve structured our platform around.”
After concluding the group response section of the debate, the tickets were asked specific questions regarding their individual platforms, policies and stances, according to research performed by The Bold prior to the debate.
Ignite:
Your campaign Instagram (@ignite_cu2024) was launched yesterday. (March 19, 2024)
In your announcement post, you say that “CU Boulder’s campus deserves experienced leaders that are ready to advocate for improvements to the student experience by leveraging administration, on campus resources, and external connections.”
On the external connections part, what exactly does this mean for the student body?
What external connections is your ticket uniquely positioned to bring into CU student life?
“We want to build our connections with local city councilmen, local Congressmen, and national Congressmen who represents our area,” said Aaditya Pore.
He continued by referencing how much outside government entities affect student life, highlighting their influence on housing.
“We want to make sure that students have a right to sit at the table and make their voices heard,” Pore said.
Rubini-Taperoux added the impact experts from the city and state can impact student careers by offering opportunities for mentorship, internships and careers after graduation.
GOLD:
On your campaign website, cuforgold.com, your ticket talks about “Increasing access to … Student resources both on campus and off”.
One of the most frustrating and confusing experiences for CU students is their move off of campus at the end of their freshman year.
What specific resources will your administration propose and pass through Legislative Council that will help alleviate the many stresses facing students?
What are these things, both on and off campus, that CU students will be able to see in effect in the first 100 days of your administration, if elected?
GOLD suggested increasing access to housing information through avenues such as BuffPortal, as well as increasing awareness of housing events already taking place on campus.
“We do have those resources, it’s just not reaching in the right way and people don’t know about it. So that’s one of our big things is that we have all these amazing resources and there is a way to relieve all that stress through cost centers, but we just need to be able to get students to know it’s available to them.” said GOLD’s Mckenna Schutze.
EXEL:
Your campaign’s Instagram (@cusg_exel) cites campus safety as your first mission. Some things you speak about are “Creat[ing] an easier way to access CU NightRide.” and “Creat[ing] a better system for students to voice their problems to Boulder Police.”
The student body has a large vested interest in these solutions, but it’s important to all be on the same page about the problems facing us.
So, can you tell us a little more about your specific plan(s) for making NightRide more accessible and why this would be more effective than other student fee-funded safety measures?
EXEL cited the influx of students that visit University Hill during peak weekend times and how NightRide can address the safety concerns students face.
“The campus and the Hill should be more connected. And we think CU NightRide can do a good job of this. So something we would like to do is increase more awareness as well as access to CU NightRide. We think it deserves more funding,” said Alex Radz.
